2013 Ford Focus Power Train
Owner-reported problems and safety issues filed with NHTSA. Review common failures, severity levels, and complaint trends over time.
Complaint Timeline
Chronological view of owner reports
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Focus. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle inadvertently lost motive power. The contact was able to pull over to the shoulder of the roadway, where the failure persisted. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who diagnosed a failure with the transmission after finding metal shavings inside the transmission fluid. The contact was informed that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, a case was opened, and the contact was referred to the NHTSA hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was 105,000.
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Focus. The contact stated while driving approximately 20 MPH on two occasions, the vehicle lost motive power. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was steered to the side of the roadway and restarted. The contact stated that after the first failure, the vehicle was taken to a dealer however, the failure could not be replicated; however, the failure recurred. The contact stated that on the second failure, the vehicle was able to restart; however, the failure persisted upon restarting the vehicle. The vehicle was towed to another unknown dealer, where it was diagnosed that the Transmission Control Module had failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact related the failure to an unknown recall. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 60,000.
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Focus. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle failed to accelerate as intended while depressing the accelerator pedal before the vehicle lost automotive power. The vehicle was shifted into park and restarted. The transmission warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer, where it was diagnosed with PCM failure. The contact stated that the PCM had been reprogrammed before. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 70,000.
Transmission not shifting properly
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Focus. The contact stated that while driving 70 MPH, the transmission unexpectedly shifted into neutral(N), and the message “Transmission Overheated - Pull Over for 5 Minutes” was displayed. The contact coasted to the side of the road and waited before continuing to drive. The contact stated that while attempting to restart the vehicle, the vehicle failed to start immediately, causing the contact to make several attempts to restart the vehicle. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the transmission was hesitating, and the vehicle was jerking while downshifting. The contact stated that the check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a certified mechanic who diagnosed failures with dual clutch, engine failure, Clutch A failure, and a failure with the Transmission Control Module(TCM). The vehicle was not repaired. The dealer was contacted and confirmed that the vehicle was not included in NHTSA Campaign Number: 13V523000 (Power Train). The contact drove the vehicle to work and while attempting to restart the vehicle, the vehicle failed to immediately start, and the vehicle became inoperable. The manufacturer was informed of the failure and confirmed that VIN was not included in NHTSA Campaign Number: 13V523000 (Power Train). The manufacturer referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline to report the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 169,000. The VIN was not available.
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Focus. The contact stated while driving on several occasions at various speeds, the transmission was slipping, and the vehicle lost motive power. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed and determined that the clutch needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 180,000.
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Focus. The contact stated that occasionally upon starting up the vehicle, the transmission was difficult to shift into gear. The contact stated that while attempting to reverse, the vehicle failed to respond. The contact shifted into neutral and was able to push the vehicle because the reverse(R) was inoperable. The contact stated that the check engine warning light illuminated and remained illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer where it was diagnosed, and the contact was informed that the transmission was faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 130,000.
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Focus. The contact stated that the check engine warning light remained illuminated. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 18V735000 (Fuel System, Gasoline); and the vehicle was taken to a local dealer where the recall repair was performed. The contact was concerned that the dealer had not properly completed the recall repair. The contact stated that the recall remedy was incomplete, and that the powertrain control module (PCM) should have been updated, and the evaporative emissions canister purge valves and the evaporative emission canister should have been replaced; however, the dealer had not performed the additional repairs. The manufacturer was contacted, and the contact was informed that no additional repairs were available because the recall repair had been deemed completed. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 103,000.
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Focus. The contact stated after driving approximately 35 MPH, the contact attempted to shift to reverse; however, the vehicle failed to respond. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed and determined that the clutch needed to be replaced. The contact researched and became aware of an unknown NHTSA Campaign Number; however, the VIN was not included. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 59,000.
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Focus. The contact stated while driving 20 MPH, the transmission hesitated while upshifting to the next gear. The contact pulled over to the side of the road and heard an abnormal ticking sound coming from the transmission. The contact was able to get the vehicle back to the residence safely. The dealer was contacted. The contact stated that the vehicle was repaired after the first failure; however, the failure reoccurred. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and the contact was provided an estimate for a diagnostic test. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 137,000.
I have the DPS6 Transmission from the Michigan plant. My Focus SE started to shudder, jerk, didn't want to shift,. Also, acted like the car was going to stall and when in reverse wouldn't back up. I also had problems with loss of power. I didn't feel safe when driving, what happens when I'm on the road if the car won't shift when in traffic? It's a hazard !! Had a new clutch, seals, gasket, cylinder put in (2023) and now( End of January 2025) it's started again along with shift forks as I was told by the dealership. Ford FIX THE PROBLEM your DPS6 Transmission should be REPLACED !! Are you waiting for deaths to happen ? You've known about this but haven't helped your customers.
My car randomly puts itself in 2nd gear and wont go more than 25 mph
My transmission went out on me and I was stuck right in the middle on the highway. That puts everyone’s safety at risk. These Automatic transmission’s are faulty from factory and Ford is refusing to “FIX” them. They will only accept to update the TCM and that’s not a fix when it has internal problems. I did get a warning on the screen saying transmission malfunction and a check engine light.
The transmission seems like it doesn’t want to go right away. It gives off a twitch which doesn’t allow me to start up right away and causes my tires to spin.
I started experiencing intermittent (what seems like transmission) Issues about a little over a year ago. It would randomly occur and usually after the engine was warmed up and I had been driving a lot that day. It would only occur from a dead stop and then starting to accelerate from 1st to 2nd gear. The RPMs would go way high but the car wouldn’t accelerate I would let off the gas and then give it a little gas right away and it would seem to “grab” and the car wouldn’t accelerate start to go. It has over time increasingly gotten worse increasing from just 1st to 2nd gear and now 2nd to 3rd gear. I have a transmission that is a dual clutch transmission so it is an automatic but when I want to I can put my gear shifter into “S” mode (sport mode) and the car then acts as a manual transmission needing the driver to change gears by pushing a + or a - button on the gear shifter either when accelerating or downshifting gears. It never acted up in “S” Mode only during automatic driving until recently. What sparked my need to write in about this is when I was driving down the freeway the car all of a sudden lost power but the RPMs accelerated up into the Red zone on my tachometer. Essentially I was dead driving 60 mph down the freeway and quickly losing speed cars were swerving around me and one almost rear ended me. It put my life and the life of my passengers all at risk and it was scary! I had a good friend of mine who is an ASE Certified mechanic look at the car and he couldn’t see anything wrong but because this happens intermittently I wouldn’t expect the problem to occur for him during a five min test drive. However it doesn’t change the severity of what I have been experiencing. There was a previous recall on my vehicle for this transmission and these exact problems and although it was repaired (under a different owner) I am experiencing the same issues. Maybe the replacement transmission was also faulty? since my “service transmission” light came on as well.
CHECK ENGINE LIGHT ON AND TPMS LIGHT ON. VEHICLE EXHIBITS OVERHEATING WARNING LIGHT ON. FOUND CODES: PO7A3 - Transmission Friction Element 'A' Stuck On P2872 - Clutch 'A' Stuck Engaged the transmission takes off in 1st okay, stutter felt in 2nd and 3rd when shifting. when shifting from 3rd to 4th there is a long delay engine bogs down before shifting into 4th gear. same problem in 4-5, 5-6th gear was running properly recommended diagnosis on the engines code and dual clutch assembly then retest clutch travel test failed. Transmission is previously recalled. Ford has Ford's Customer Satisfaction Program that is supposed to replace the Transmission control module extended warranty coverage Campaign# 14M02 It’s also supposed to repair issues caused by TCM, which is related to the codes showed but the dealership will not fix either issue. On the website chat a guest service member said my car qualified for repairs but the dealership said they won’t replace the TCM unless I replaced the clutch first with a $3700 estimate. Clutch issues are cause by TCM malfunctioning.
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Focus. The contact stated while driving approximately 45 MPH on several occasions, the vehicle lost automotive power. No warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the clutch assembly needed to be replaced. The independent mechanic suggested that the vehicle be taken to a dealer. The vehicle was taken to a dealer and the vehicle was repaired; however, the failure reoccurred. The contact attempted to contact the manufacturer but had not received a response. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 70,000.
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Focus. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle was jerking abnormally. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer but was not diagnosed or repaired. The dealer informed the contact that the vehicle was not under recall for transmission failure. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue and informed the contact that the VIN was not under recall for transmission failure. The approximate failure mileage was 174,500.
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Focus. The contact stated while driving from a complete stop and depressing the accelerator pedal, there was a 5-10 seconds hesitation before the vehicle accelerated as needed. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact stated that the failure had been recurring while driving from a complete stop. The contact stated that the transmission clutch was replaced several times; however, the failure persisted. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed and determined that the transmission clutch needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that the vehicle was not covered under recall or warranty. The failure mileage was approximately 142,000. The VIN was not available.
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Focus. The contact stated while driving and attempting to stop, the vehicle hesitated and shifted out of gear independently. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer where it was diagnosed and determined that the transmission control module needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired; however, the failure persisted. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 88,000.
I have been an owner of a Ford vehicle for 3 generations. My 2013 Ford Focus has only 95K Miles and has had serious Transmission problems. The vehicle has been well taken care of and has been serviced at the dealership several times for regular service maintenance. All recalls have been taken care of. However, Despite the fixes performed by Ford Dealership. The car still has problems of shuddering, hesitation, and stalling or inability to accelerate. Most of the time the clutch experiences slips between 1 and 2nd gears. It is not safe to drive on the highway. Ford service center is refusing to fix the problem as the 10 year power train warranty has expired in May of 2023. I have spent thousands of $'s in maintaining the vehicle and my wife loves it. But we cannot afford to keep spending money. IT needs a new transmission and I feel Ford should fix it. I have been given a runaround. Can Someone in Ford customer care help with this request to get my Transmission fixed under customer satisfaction.
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Focus. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the accelerator pedal was depressed, however the vehicle failed to accelerate as intended. In addition, the contact stated that the transmission was slipping and shifted hard. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where it was diagnosed with failed transmission clutches. The contact was informed that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure but provided no assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 64,000.
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Focus. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed the contact noticed a failure when he attempted to switch gears. The contact stated that his shift gear remained in neutral with the transmission warning light illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where it was diagnosed as a failure with the clutch gear which the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and advised the contact to reach out to NHSTA for further assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 176,294.
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Focus. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the accelerator pedal was depressed; however, the vehicle failed to accelerate as intended. The contact stated that an unknown warning light was illuminated. In addition, the contact stated that the vehicle jerked and lost motive power and failed to restart. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where it was diagnosed with a failed clutch and actuator. The contact was informed that the clutch and the actuator needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact stated that the failure was persistent. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and a case was filed. The failure mileage was approximately 200,000.
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Focus. The contact stated that upon shifting the vehicle into reverse, the vehicle had no motive power. The transmission warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who diagnosed a failure with the transmission solenoids. The contact was informed that the transmission needed to be replaced. The contact stated that the transmission had previously been replaced in June of 2023 at 114,000 miles. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but provided no assistance. The failure mileage was 147,000. The VIN was not available.
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Quick Summary
The 2013 Ford Focus has 746 Power Train complaints on file. 4 crashes have been reported. Review the timeline above for detailed owner experiences.